


Tell me I'm wrong

by S_Horne



Series: Stony September AUs [27]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 09:32:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16115654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/S_Horne/pseuds/S_Horne
Summary: “I worked it out! You’re in love! That’s why you’re so grumpy all of a sudden; it’s quite obvious that something’s wrong when Steve Rogers stops smiling. And that’s the reason that you have loads of ice cream and cookies in the kitchen instead of your usual health shit. You’re sulking. It has to be love because there’s nothing else that would get you down. The only thing would be one of your friends being hurt, but we’re all fine, so it has to be a you thing. And your job is perfect and your apartment is perfect and everything else is shipshape, so it’s gotta be your heart.”





	Tell me I'm wrong

**Author's Note:**

> 27\. Friends to lovers 
> 
> (Yes I wrote a friends one before, that's on me)

“You’re in love!” Tony burst loudly into Steve’s apartment, the door slamming into the wall and bouncing back with a deafening slam.

“Whoops,” Tony halted in the hallway with a sheepish grimace at the noise before he shook it off and continued into the living room where Steve was staring up at him with mild impatience across his face. It was a sad fact of his life that Steve was more than used to these interruptions of his best friend barging into his life. There wasn’t much he could do to stall Tony now, so Steve merely closed his book on his fingers to mark his page and leaned back into the couch cushions expectantly, waiting for Tony to explain himself.

“I worked it out! You’re in love! That’s why you’re so grumpy all of a sudden; it’s quite obvious that something’s wrong when Steve Rogers stops smiling. And that’s the reason that you have loads of ice cream and cookies in the kitchen instead of your usual health shit. You’re sulking.

“It has to be love because there’s nothing else that would get you down. The only thing would be one of your friends being hurt, but we’re all fine, so it has to be a _you_ thing. And your job is perfect and your apartment is perfect and everything else is shipshape, so it’s gotta be your heart.”

Steve lifted an eyebrow in surprise. He knew Tony cared passionately about his friends, but such a display when Tony was normally as observant as a tea-spoon was definitely a shock.

“And obviously that person doesn’t know because, hello, have you met you? There isn’t anyone who would turn you down _. No one_ ,” he emphasised, gesturing at Steve’s _everything_ and making Steve blush a scarlet red. Taking a deep breath, Tony launched back into his rant.

“So,” Tony continued, drawing Steve’s attention back to him, “if you _could_ have said something, you _would_ have because you’re brave, even if you thought you’d have been rejected. And you haven’t, so there has to be some reason that you won’t say anything. Because you’re a good guy, I’m going to guess that the person you love is in a relationship with someone else. Yes?”

Despite the rambling, Steve followed along brilliantly and didn’t that just give a sad statement about his life? Tony didn’t give Steve a chance to answer before he began again, pacing further into the living room and coming to a halt in front of Steve. “It has to be someone you see all the time because you’re so bummed, so that is making me think it’s someone in our little circle.”

They weren’t really a _little_ circle; there were eight of them that were like family. Tony and Steve had met in their very first year, hating each other in their Monday morning 8am class until a project had thrown them together and they’d realised the other wasn’t actually so bad. They’d met the others in college, each of them dragging new people in from classes and the cafeteria until they’d formed a perfect group full of a very weird blend of personalities. Although they’d added a few extras in the form of partners as they got older, they were the same core they’d always been and Steve loved every single one of them.

“And that majorly sucks because everyone in our group is in a loving and committed relationship with someone else in the pack. Unless you love Bruce.” Tony paused and looked at Steve in consideration, eyes narrowed and head tilted to one side, “but I really don’t think that Bruce is your type. So. Tell me I’m wrong.”

Tony ended his speech there triumphantly, his chest sticking out in pride despite the panting slightly with the force of his rant. Spreading his hands out to the sides, Tony beamed at Steve as if begging him to prove him wrong. Steve waited for a long moment and when he was sure that Tony was done, he shrugged, dropping his gaze back down and reopening his book.

“You’re wrong,” Steve said simply.

“What?” Tony cried loudly. He dropped down heavily next to Steve on the couch and grabbed his arm. “No,” he continued forlornly, dramatically. “No, I can’t be!”

“Well, you are,” Steve said lightly, body swaying as Tony shook him. “Trust me.”

“Tell me then.”

“Tell you what?” Steve asked, finally looking up from his book in confusion.

“Tell me where I went so wrong,” Tony clarified, settling back into the cushions and holding Steve’s gaze. “I want to know. I want to know what’s wrong with you.”

“No.”

“Why not?” Tony asked.

“Because I don’t want to,” Steve said simply, turning back to his book but not actually reading anything.

“Just tell me which part was wrong,” Tony maintained. “I know it wasn’t the love part.”

“This is very personal,” Steve said casually, but there was a tight undertone to his voice hinting that Tony should drop it.

“I know,” Tony said. “I’m sorry, Steve, but I just want to help.” Tony fell silent for a moment before swallowing and speaking softly. “Was it the love part?”

There was a long pause before Steve sighed. “No.”

“Okay,” Tony said, a smug smile clear in his tone. Steve rolled his eyes, albeit fondly. “Was it the friends part?”

“No,” Steve admitted in a small voice. He couldn’t lie to Tony, no matter how much he wanted to, especially about this. It was not a discussion that he wanted to have, not with anyone but _definitely_ not with Tony.

“So which part was it?” Tony asked in confusion. “There wasn’t another… wait. Was it the single part?”

“Yes.” God, this was like pulling teeth and Steve wanted to sink through the floor.

“Everyone is in a relationship though,” Tony continued, talking more to himself than Steve until he rounded on the other man with a confused look on his face. “It _isn’t_ Bruce, is it?”

“No!” Steve stressed. Steve adored Bruce, that was for sure, but he had never felt anything romantic towards the man. Yes, he liked his partners shorter, nerdy and dark-haired, but there was only room for one in his heart at a time. He didn’t know why it was so important for him to make Tony so damn sure that he wasn’t interested in Bruce. Well, he _did_ know, he just didn’t want to think about it right then. “What is it with you thinking I’m in love with Bruce?”

“Well, everyone else is in a relationship!” Tony said, throwing his hands up. “And you love Bruce! He’s a logical choice!”

“He is _not_ a logical choice,” Steve said.

“Well, that’s rude–”

“And not everyone else is in a relationship,” Steve barrelled over Tony’ interruption, taking a deep breath and deciding to be brave for once.

“Yes, everyone is. Unless someone broke up! No, my phone would be blowing up.” Tony froze and grabbed his phone, frantically checking it. He relaxed when he saw that he had no new messages, but stopped again as another thought hit him.

“Wait, no. You don’t mean…?” Tony hesitated, turning his gaze to look back up at Steve slowly. Steve didn’t meet his gaze and stared hard down at his book instead.

“Steve,” Tony said insistently, tone actually serious for once, “did you mean me?”

Steve sighed to himself before closing his book once again. He leant forward and placed it on the coffee table, taking a few moments to steel himself before he sat back, twisting himself to face Tony fully. “Yes,” he said, voice so much stronger than he felt. His hands were shaking, but he managed to sound somewhat steady. “I was talking about you. I’m in love with you.”

“What? No, I mean… what?”

Steve huffed out a weak laugh. That response was just so, well, _Tony._

“You love me?”

Well. He’d said it now. No taking it back. “I do.”

Tony smiled, a wide beam lighting up the whole room. He was so beautiful that Steve couldn’t help but stare at him in wonder, drinking in the sight of his happiness. When Tony reached out a hand and took Steve’s in his own, Steve’s hands stilled.  

“I love you too.”

Steve smiled back, a hesitant smile which grew to match Tony’ when the other man’s words really sunk in. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Although Tony moved first, Steve met him in the middle and pressed their lips together passionately, his mouth opening immediately to swipe his tongue along Tony’s lower lip. The taste was so perfect that Steve couldn’t help his groan, pushing even closer to Tony as he lifted his hands to cup the man’s head.

“I knew I wasn’t wrong,” Tony whispered when they broke apart.

“You kinda were though,” Steve countered with a smirk. “It took you a while to work it out.”

“Meh, I got there in the end. And you love me.”

“You did,” Steve said happily, not resisting the urge to catch Tony’s lips again. When he realised that he didn’t have to stop himself from doing that, he kissed Tony again and again and again. “And I do. So much more than Bruce.”

 

 


End file.
